Why An Overload Of Toppings Is Ruining Your Flatbread Pizza

Flatbread pizza's name says it all: This pizza is flat. Although everyone is "pizza, pizza, pizza," the flatbread one was the first pizza in Naples, Italy (via Foods Guy). It was considered food for the poor, as it only needed a cheap flatbread topped with tomatoes, cheese, oil, and some herbs. It was later when Queen Margherita created the Margherita pizza with basil, tomato, and mozzarella, that pizza got popular and fancy and the rest is history (via App).

Flatbread pizza has survived through time. It's an excellent choice when we are looking for a lighter pizza-taste-like meal, crunchy and filling at the same time, and personalized with toppings of our choice. Plus, it's very easy to do: A classic flatbread recipe include basic staples like flour, baking powder, and salt. And of course, there is always the store-bought flatbread for a quicker stress-free alternative. Whether you make or buy your flatbread, there is a very important principle when preparing this thin style of pizza to avoid ruining it.

The Spruce Eats reminds us that the thin and flat dough needs a lighter amount of toppings so it doesn't crumble. Of course, this doesn't happen with pizza because its dough has a leavened component that flatbread doesn't, and is perhaps the main difference between both. As Cutting Edge Firewood explains, regular pizza dough has yeast, so the crust is chewier, bulkier, and thicker, unlike the flatbread pizza dough that doesn't have yeast. This is what gives the main characteristic of flatbread pizza — its crispy crust. 

So, be gentle when adding toppings over flatbread because too much weight can make it unenjoyable to eat, or even difficult to slice. Also, as Foods Guy reports, tomato sauce adds moisture to the middle of the food. If you want to be completely sure your flatbread pizza would hold all your toppings, Sue Bee Homebaker recommends prebaking the flatbread crust before adding the toppings to it. This is not only to hold it more firmly, but to avoid sogginess when the flatbread is baked again with all of your toppings. Another alternative is to slightly fry it on a pan, as Don't Go Bacon My Heart notes. With this in mind, there is no way you would ruin your next homemade flatbread pizza.